Pocket Ninja:Yes, they did the rational thing. After the father threatened to sue them in Federal court.

That's like being proud of someone for surrendering to the police after six officers draw their weapons on him.

I'm not quite sure how the city's solicitor let this happen. It's not every day you get to argue in federal court and bill hundreds of hours to the taxpayers over an issue that is utterly stupid. So there's a lot more to this story than they're telling us.

Marcus Aurelius:I'm not quite sure how the city's solicitor let this happen. It's not every day you get to argue in federal court and bill hundreds of hours to the taxpayers over an issue that is utterly stupid. So there's a lot more to this story than they're telling us.

I'm betting (hoping?) they got caught off guard when the internet outrage hit. This isn't the first time the interwebz have helped stop Floridian insanity.

I mean, I'm happy for the kid that he gets to keep his pets, but I've been around chickens and I wouldn't say they were a particularly... uh... therapeutic animal.

In my kid's "gifted" class, there are a few kids clearly on the spectrum, and I don't mean Reading Rainbow. Something as predictably repetitive as a chicken's progress through a yard with some tasty bugs would probably have the desired settling effect in the absence of, say, paint drying.

Peki:Marcus Aurelius: I'm not quite sure how the city's solicitor let this happen. It's not every day you get to argue in federal court and bill hundreds of hours to the taxpayers over an issue that is utterly stupid. So there's a lot more to this story than they're telling us.

I'm betting (hoping?) they got caught off guard when the internet outrage hit. This isn't the first time the interwebz have helped stop Floridian insanity.

the attitude of the fark thread seemed more that the parents were wrong and the city council should have stood firm. apparently the rest of the internet disagreed?

In this one instance it's probably not a problem, but on a larger scale I could easily see this becoming a problem in suburban/urban areas. The sanitation issues, the noise, having them get loose and waned around the neighborhood and interacting with the normal children... Nothing against autistic kids, but they really should be kept out in the country.

Treygreen13:I mean, I'm happy for the kid that he gets to keep his pets, but I've been around chickens and I wouldn't say they were a particularly... uh... therapeutic animal.

Any animal can be therapeutic.

It's not really so much what the animal does that matters as how the person being therapified responds to the animal. Most people respond better to sympathetic creatures like dogs, sure, but if this kid responds to chickens... hey, it works. That's what matters.

In parts of Florida, like HIgh Springs, and Key West, chickens are allowed to roam free. And seldom, if ever cause problems. People, roaming free, have a tendency to cause many, many, more problems. Even when penned up, they are always looking for trouble.

I mean, I'm happy for the kid that he gets to keep his pets, but I've been around chickens and I wouldn't say they were a particularly... uh... therapeutic animal.

In my kid's "gifted" class, there are a few kids clearly on the spectrum, and I don't mean Reading Rainbow. Something as predictably repetitive as a chicken's progress through a yard with some tasty bugs would probably have the desired settling effect in the absence of, say, paint drying.

Im assuming its a tactile thing instead of a observational. Rubbing soft chicken feathers might be effective for this kid when a soft blanket or other object had no effect. We use a soft blanket for our older boy, thank god we dont have to take care of a chicken. Although fresh eggs would be nice.....

tlchwi02:Peki: Marcus Aurelius: I'm not quite sure how the city's solicitor let this happen. It's not every day you get to argue in federal court and bill hundreds of hours to the taxpayers over an issue that is utterly stupid. So there's a lot more to this story than they're telling us.

I'm betting (hoping?) they got caught off guard when the internet outrage hit. This isn't the first time the interwebz have helped stop Floridian insanity.

the attitude of the fark thread seemed more that the parents were wrong and the city council should have stood firm. apparently the rest of the internet disagreed?

I'm going with:

Pocket Ninja:Yes, they did the rational thing. After the father threatened to sue them in Federal court.

OtherLittleGuy:Did not read the article, but did the dad play the ADA card?

Nation said he threatened to file a federal lawsuit against the city, saying the removal of the boy's chickens would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Federal Fair Housing Act.

Federal Fair Housing Act? Since when are chickens a protected group?

orclover:Im assuming its a tactile thing instead of a observational. Rubbing soft chicken feathers might be effective for this kid when a soft blanket or other object had no effect. We use a soft blanket for our older boy, thank god we dont have to take care of a chicken. Although fresh eggs would be nice.....

Temple Gradin, FTW. Saw the HBO movie, and though it was a hagiography near the end, thought it was a pretty good insight on how austitic people use tactile.

It seems like everytime anything happens to someone that they don't like, they pull some sort of sympathy card. It seems like every person you taze screams they have some medical condition, every person you ban from Wal-Mart is disabled. Or here, some hipster parents wanted fresh eggs in a resdential neighborhood got some chickens, and then when the council changed their mind on the new rule they decided to say their "autistic" son liked them. Why?

Cause no one wants to hear about some yuppies complaining that their chickens are taken away. But if the chickens are a "therapy animal" for their child, (as perscribed by a quack doctor they shopped around for) that amps up the sympathy meter, and allows them to get the internet mommies with precious "autistic" kids up in arms, and to take to their keyboards and deploy the 101 st mommy keyboard division.

I remember when the autistic kids were clearly disabled. Now your kid doesn't run up to strangers and start babbling to them, they are autistic. They like a schedule and only like certain foods? That is called being a kid.

I didn't disagree with their original decision and I felt the parents had made poor choices here. I'm certainly glad the kid is going to get to keep his chickens though, this whole mess was never his fault. Hopefully the exemption thing will last, it would only be worse if they had to go through this down the road again. =\

joness0154:InitialCommentGuy: So the local government is forced to back down on a valid concern due to a threat of an an expensive, meaningless lawsuit.

Truly a vvictoryfor victory for snowflakes everywhere.

And what valid concern is there by constituents raising a small amount of chickens in accordance with the law (no roosters, clean pens, fenced, etc.)?

When people think about a neighbor having chickens, they imagine living next to a commercial chicken farm. It's as logical as imagining living next to a puppy mill when your neighbor mentions wanting a dog.